Tag Archive: Los Feliz Par 3

Two weekends ago, I helped my good friend Rick move to Oakland. Yes, I was sweaty. Yes, I ached. But, it was good sweat and good aches because I knew I was helping a friend. Plus, I got to drive a truck, a big ol’ moving truck doing 70 down the highway in a bouncy seat. The other bonus is that I got to listen to four hours of The Thrilling Adventure Hour as I drove over the Grapevine pass and out into the vast farmland of the Central Valley. The air conditioning was on “arctic” as Rick described it when he stepped into the cab to talk at one point, and it was just me and Frank and Sadie Doyle, Sparks Nevada and Croach the Tracker, Gummy and Banjo Bindlestuff, Amelia Earhart fighting dirty krauts and Captain Laserbeam and the Adventurekateers. I couldn’t have asked for a better drive. (Plus, Rick treated me to In N’ Out which is such a delicious meal after a bit of the lift and sweat, if you know what I mean. Oh heck, moving is what I mean.)

This morning, another good friend, C.J., sent me a link to a preview of Thrilling Adventure Hour graphic novel from Archaia/BOOM! Studios, available in comic book stores today. I jumped at the chance to read it and compare it to my time shared with the show on the road and at Largo at the Coronet.

The first two things I encountered were the prefaces by Patton Oswalt and Ed Brubaker, two more artists that I enjoy immensely. In Brubaker’s writing, he mentioned all of the distractions that are in the city of Los Angeles and how this show based on old-time radio scripts sells out every week. It got me to thinking of all the glorious things that can distract on a monthly or weekly basis here that interest me. There’s Harmontown at Meltdown on a weekly basis. There are movies at the Arclight. There are shows at the UCB, including the Dead Authors hosted by H.G. Wells (Paul F. Tompkins, aka Frank Doyle). There are concerts all over the place. There are hikes into the mountains and walks along the beach. There are bike rides in Griffith Park. There’s improv shows at the IO West. There’s golf at the Los Feliz Par 3 and Penmar Golf Course. There’s baseball at Dodger Stadium, Angels Stadium and many more Single-A stadiums in the California League South. There are restaurants to try, board games to play, bars to have a whiskey or beer and books and graphic novels to read. I may have only seen the Thrilling Adventure Hour live twice, but I have to give others a chance, don’t I? I have to explore all that this great town has to offer.